Hydraulic and pneumatic door controlling devices for swing doors are well known (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,793,023, 4,414,703 and 4,378,612.). Hydraulic and pneumatically operated openers, or opening assist mechanisms are also known from the prior art as exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,948,000, 3,936,977, 4,955,194, and 4,429,490. Further, electromechanical automatic door openers are known, for example, from U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,910,290, 3,127,160, 4,045,914 and 4,220,051. Each type of these door openers has its own advantages and disadvantages.
There are also combinations of such devices known from the prior art, for instance, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,874,117, 3,129,936, 1,684,704, 2,256,613, and 4,438,835. The additional expense associated with the manufacture and operation of such units is relatively high. As an example, when a clutch or other disengagement mechanism is required for operation, the resulting system can become too expensive, especially for widespread use. This limits the applications for such improved door openers to entrance doors and automated doors for handicapped people leaving the market of fast food restaurants and hygienic applications unattended.
The present invention addresses an automatic door opener designed for public washroom facilities application to enhance sanitary practices. The objective of employing this product is to reduce microbiological and bacterial surface contact cross contamination when exiting public washroom facilities.
Regardless of the level of cleanliness and preventative measures such as “No Touch” toilet flushing mechanisms, “No Touch” taps, hand air-dryers and rigorous floor cleaning programs, the last point of contact prior to exiting the washroom, on a consistent basis, is the door pull-handle. Previous studies have indicated the presence of micro organisms and the subsequent microbial contamination in public washrooms. This is further aggravated by the fact that only 50% of washroom users wash their hands prior to leaving the washroom. This indicates that the incidence of cross contamination at the door pull-handle is actually 100%, as 100% of users will make physical contact with the door pull-handle in order to exit.
Given the serious incidences of public health and concerns such as the Norwalk virus, SARS etc., eliminating and/or reducing all possible sources of cross contamination in public places is a serious matter that bears responsibility on entrepreneurs to bring about affordable and practical solutions to deal with this issue.
Most door operating systems do not possess any features that would suspend the door opening if any obstacle in its way is encountered. The systems which do have such features, such as that which is described in a U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,217 are complex and unreliable due to the fact that door inertia and dynamic loads during the door operation can be easily misrepresented by a controller as an overload condition, which creates a pattern of malfunction.
Another issue with the known door operating systems is bulkiness and that they occupy most of the width and considerable height of the swing door upper frame. This creates an unappealing addition to the interior of the office, house or washroom. The high price of such devices stems from the complexity of the design itself and creates a challenging barrier for penetration to such powerful and potent markets as highly frequented public areas.
This applicability of the present system can be enjoyed by businesses providing public washroom facilities in the industrialized world: hospitality industry (bar, restaurants, hotels), healthcare facilities (hospitals), educational centers (schools, colleges, universities and libraries), shopping malls, government buildings, entertainment centers (theatres, cinemas, nightclubs), day care centers (very young children are part of the most susceptible population group affected by this kind of contamination as their immune systems are still immature) The “No Touch” product of the present invention will be offered at a fraction of the cost of what is available today.
Although a multitude of swinging door automatic openers are available in the marketplace, particularly for disabled function applications, these are quite sophisticated and elaborate, however their purchase and installation costs make them prohibitive for a sanitary application such as it is envisaged with the instant technology.
As a general rule, most door operating systems are-not capable of functioning during power blackouts. Since most automatic door operating system can naturally be situated in public facilities such as hospitals, offices, restaurants, etc., the loss of power paralyzes these devices. As this present invention offers an operating system that is not attached to the door, it will not prevent normal (unassisted) manual operation of the door in a power blackout situation. Moreover, in the battery operated variation it can provide up to 700 opening cycles autonomously.
The present invention addresses all these problems by providing an improved automatic door operating system.